Iran Role Probed as Houthi Attacks Hit Saudi, Yemen
Yemen's war re-erupted in October 2026 amid a wave of Houthi attacks on Saudi cities and Yemeni government positions. At least 18 people were killed in a Houthi attack on a Yemeni government military camp in Shabwa on October 19, 2026, according to sources cited by Reuters. A Houthi attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed 13 people, in the most recently published account of strikes on the Saudi capital.
Media reports have alleged that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of Iran's armed forces, aided the Houthis as they seized swaths of western Yemen and launched attacks on Saudi Arabia. Reported Iranian support includes training, intelligence, tactical guidance and help in targeting for drone and missile attacks, according to Al Jazeera. Iran was described as actively supplying drones, missiles and radars, support that was said to be helping the Houthis target attacks on Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Iranian Mahan Air flights ferried IRGC paramilitary officers, drone parts, missile guidance systems and impact detonators to the Houthis in Yemen. IRGC officers were reported to be on the front lines directing Houthi attacks. Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Maj-Gen Turki al-Maliki confirmed the presence of an external state actor behind the Houthis' evolving arsenal without naming the state, and said the Houthis had acquired advanced technologies with regional assistance.
The Houthis won control of Yemen's Red Sea coastline and the Bab al-Mandeb strait in a September offensive. Saudi energy facilities and oil tankers have been targeted by the group. The Houthis fired missiles at the presidential palace complex in Aden, killing five people, in October 2026, while fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces has intensified around Taiz.
Yemen's Houthis renewed a warning over Saudi airports after the deadly Riyadh attack in October 2026. The United States representative at the U.N. Security Council condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure and urged Iran to end its support. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned a Houthi missile attack on Riyadh's main airport, and Saudi Arabia condemned Houthi militia attacks at the Security Council in New York on October 9, 2026.
The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, Arabic for Supporters of God, have been at war with Yemen's government since 2014. Saudi authorities have previously reported Houthi attacks on Khamis Mushait, Abha and Jazan using ballistic missiles and drones, as well as strikes aimed at Riyadh and other cities and at Saudi vessels in the southern Red Sea.
